Manipulation
Epic Manipulation and its associated Knacks. =Manipulation= This attribute is associated with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . Blurt It Out Knacks Blurt It Out :Manipulation Knack (from S:H, changes by GBN) :Dice pool: Manipulation + Command. Cost: 1L. The Scion with this Knack has no patience for liars or those who may wish to give him the runaround. By spending the requisite amount of Legend and asking a direct question, he may cause the target of his interest to suddenly blurt out the answer as truthfully as possible, whether or not they might wish to do so. Kill The Messenger :Manipulation Knack (from S:G, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Blurt It Out :Dice pool: None. Cost: 3L. One of the greatest powers of manipulation is the ability to have someone else do your dirty work for you; the Scion with this Knack knows just how to get that accomplished, even if her accomplice is less than proficient in the persuasive arts. She may explain to her target exactly how to manipulate others to his best advantage; as long as her target follows her instructions, he may substitute her Manipulation and Epic Manipulation for his own the next time he is called upon to roll that attribute. Secondhand Persuasion :Manipulation Knack (from S:G, changes by GBN) :Prerequisites: Blurt It Out, Kill The Messenger :Dice pool: None. Cost: 1L. Now so impressive in his manipulative skills that he can issue commands indirectly, the Scion can activate this Knack along with any other Manipulation Knack in order to give that Knack's instruction non-verbally. As long as the command identifies its intended target or targets specifically and by name, it can be issued through email or text message, via billboard or skywriting, or read aloud by an unsuspecting anchor on the evening news. Gods' Honest Knacks Gods' Honest :Manipulation Knack (from S:H, changes by GBN) :Dice pool: Manipulation + Empathy. Cost: 1L. With a simple wave of his hand and an affirming phrase, the Scion with this Knack may wipe away doubt in the mind of his target. As long as he appends a reassuring phrase (such as “I promise,” or “Scout’s honor”) to his statement, he may cause his target to do their very best to believe what he says, even if it would normally seem completely far-fetched. Only completely ironclad proof (or further supernatural meddling) can convince his target that he is lying. If the Scion uses Gods' Honest to make a statement that actually is the truth, no force short of Ultimate Manipulation can thereafter change the target's mind. When Gods' Honest clashes with Takes One to Know One (or other powers that supernaturally detect lies), both powers negate each other. The credibility of such a fib rests on a (Manipulation + Empathy) roll pitted against a (Perception + Empathy) roll, just as if neither Knack were in use. Not The Face :Manipulation Knack (from S:C, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Gods' Honest :Dice pool: Manipulation + Empathy. Cost: 1L. By cringing, feinting, or otherwise letting his opponent know that he does not wish to be hit, the Scion with this Knack may force them to hesitate, possibly giving him enough time to escape or to defend himself. Once per scene, the Scion may activate this Knack reflexively while being attacked. If his activation roll overcomes his attacker's RV, the triggering attack is delayed by one tick, plus an additional tick for every five threshold successes. At the end of this hesitation, when the attack finally connects, the Scion may choose to substitute his activation roll result for his DV. (If the Scion is able to use the intervening time to make sure the attack can't connect, so much the better.) Blame James :Manipulation Knack (from S:C, changes by GBN) :Prerequisites: Gods' Honest, Not The Face :Dice pool: Manipulation + Empathy. Cost: 2L. By putting on her best innocent face, the Scion with this Knack may not only convince a target that she is blameless in a specific situation but redirect their ire to a new person entirely. By activating this Knack, she may do some fast talking to claim that another nearby person is to blame for a particular infraction, and her clever machinations and misdirections will ensure that she is believed by her target. Overt Order Knacks Overt Order :Manipulation Knack (from S:H, changes by GBN) :Dice pool: Manipulation + Command. Cost: 1L. The Scion with this Knack simply forces others to do as she wishes, autocratically or more subtly by embedding the command within a larger sentence. When she activates this power, she may give one simple command which her target must obey if they fail to resist. Hard Sell :Manipulation Knack (from S:D, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order :Dice pool: Manipulation + Command. Cost: 3L. The Scion with this Knack is able give commands in such a way that they are nigh-impossible to ignore, even for a large group of people. By spending three points of Legend and giving a simple command, he may apply his Overt Order Knack to multiple targets within earshot. Return to Sender :Manipulation Knack (from S:C, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order :Dice pool: None. Cost: 1L. Manipulation is all about making the best use of the resources at the Scion’s command, and those resources are usually in the form of people he can send on his errands and bend to do his bidding. Whenever the Scion with this Knack uses Epic Manipulation or one of its Knacks to send someone on an errand, he may also spend for this power in order to force his subject to return to him once the job has been completed. It should be noted that this does not give his subject any advanced means of finding him. This Knack also cannot force a person to risk their life in searching for the Scion, messengers will not knowingly risk death to find their manipulative masters. Instant Hypnosis :Manipulation Knack (from S:D, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order :Dice pool: Manipulation + Command. Cost: 1L. By making eye contact with his target and maintaining it for a few seconds, the Scion with this power may lay the seeds for his own future control, unknown to even the target himself. By spending a point of Legend while sustaining this brief eye contact, the Scion may implant a simple command in his target’s mind to be triggered later, allowing him to be far away or seemingly uninvolved in events when they actually play out. Even if the target fails to resist the Scion's subliminal command implantation, they may make one final attempt to deny it at the moment before it activates, if the command is an abhorrent act or otherwise flies in the face of a staunch belief. Mass Hypnosis :Manipulation Knack (from S:G, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order, Instant Hypnosis :Dice pool: Manipulation + Command. Cost: 3L. Rather than convincing her subjects one at a time, the Scion with this Knack may bring an entire group of people under her sway at one time. She may implant one subliminal command in up to as many people as she gains activation roll successes, though multiple commands will require multiple uses. Implant False Memory :Manipulation Knack (from S:G, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order, Instant Hypnosis :Dice pool: Manipulation + Presence. Cost: 1L. As long as she has first used the Instant Hypnosis Knack on someone, the Scion with this Knack may take things a step further and actually implant a fabricated memory into her victim’s mind, causing them to staunchly believe in events that never actually occurred. Such a memory seems perfectly real to the hypnotized subject, and cannot be removed except by use of the Deprogramming Knack. Subrosa :Manipulation Knack (from GBN) :Prerequisite: Overt Order, Instant Hypnosis, Implant False Memory :Dice pool: None. Cost: 3L. The most effective manipulations are usually the subtlest, and the Scion with this Knack has elevated that subtlety to an art form. Any time that he uses any other Manipulation Knack, he may spend the Legend cost to subliminally instruct the subject to do something other than what it appears he has ordered him to do. For example, a Scion with an ulterior motive might instruct someone to "Eat this chocolate cake," and then be able to claim total innocence when the man, acting on his unspoken command of "Kill Timmy for me," turns and murders his neighbor instead of chowing down. Anyone who overhears the Scion's initial command and is able to overcome his successes on a (Perception + Empathy) roll is able to realize the truth of the matter. Rumor Mill Knacks Rumor Mill :Manipulation Knack (from S:D, changes by GBN) :Dice pool: Manipulation + Presence. Cost: 2L. Dropping a suggestive hint in someone’s ear is all it takes for the Scion with this Knack, a master of subtlety, to set off the equivalent of a social or cultural bomb. By spending the Legend cost and casually mentioning a suspicion or idea to any bystander, the Scion may start a tidal wave of gossip and rumors among as many people as she gains successes. While she may only start that many people talking, rumors are rumors; odds are, they’ll pass it on to others of their own accord, and she may find that she’s created a national sensation. Trendsetter :Manipulation Knack (from S:G, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Rumor Mill :Dice pool: Manipulation + Presence. Cost: 2L. The fads and trends of the mortal (and even divine) world are as easy to manipulate for the Scion with this Knack as an individual’s actions might be. By finding a public place and intentionally performing some action, speaking some phrase, or simply existing in a unique fashion, the Scion may cause everyone around her to take note, and some to begin emulating her fashion or style automatically, believing it to be the best thing since sliced bread. The widespread staying power of the fad is dependent on conditions as with any trend, but the Scion may potentially affect astounding numbers of people with it if he so chooses, as determined by his successes: *'1 success:' everyone in the neighborhood *'5 successes:' everyone in the city *'15 successes:' everyone in the urban areas of the region *'20 successes:' everyone in the urban areas of the country *'30 successes:' everyone in the country *'35 successes:' everyone in the hemisphere *'55 successes:' everyone in the World *'50 successes:' gods of the Scion's own pantheon *'60+ successes:' gods of other pantheons The trend reaches its heyday in a number of days equal to one month minus the Scion's successes from Epic Manipulation, and lasts for a number of weeks equal to his Epic Manipulation successes. Advantageous Circumstances :Manipulation Knack (from S:D, changes by GBN) :Prerequisites: Rumor Mill, Trendsetter :Dice pool: Manipulation + Politics. Cost: 3L. The Scion with this Knack leads a charmed existence when she wishes to. By spending the requisite Legend and taking some action, however small and unrelated, she may inform the Storyteller of a desired outcome of the situation (“I want to meet that waitress,” or “I want this gun to end up in Joseph’s hand”) and watch as events align and fall into place like dominos, leading directly to that effect. She may not have any idea how events will unfold to get her what she wants, but she may rest secure in the knowledge that they will do so. This Knack generally only bends mortals into unwittingly achieving the Scion's goal; if she finds herself in a situation wherein only Legendary beings are available to do so, she must gain more successes than their combined Legend ratings. Takes One to Know One Knacks Takes One to Know One :Manipulation Knack (from S:H, changes by GBN) :Dice pool: None. Cost: None. The Scion with this Knack always knows instinctively when she is being lied to, no matter how skillfully the liar obscures their deception (though she will not necessarily know what she is being lied to about if the liar makes more than one statement at one time). The Scion immediately knows if anyone with equal or fewer dots of Epic Manipulation than herself lies to her, and may choose to roll her Manipulation instead of her Perception when attempting to tell if more skilled supernatural liars are prevaricating. Stench of Guilt :Manipulation Knack (from S:H, changes by GBN) :Prerequisite: Takes One to Know One :Dice pool: None. Cost: None. So attuned to the art of deception is the Scion with this Knack that he knows instantly if someone is trying to hide something from him in conversation, even if they are not outright lying. While he doesn’t necessarily know what’s being hidden from him, he will always get the sense that something is, and be able to act accordingly. Knowing Glance :Manipulation Knack (from S:D, changes by GBN) :Prerequisites: Takes One to Know One, Stench of Guilt :Dice pool: None. Cost: 1L. Angering to the Scion with this Knack is a dangerous proposition; if he believes that he someone might be keeping a secret, all he need do is make eye contact and spend a point of Legend to let his target know it. The target is immediately drained of Willpower points as he or she is stricken with the knowledge that someone knows his or her darkest secret. The Scion need not know what that secret is or why the target is hiding it, but the target him- or herself is nevertheless tortured by a conviction that someone has discovered it. If by some chance the target isn't keeping any guilty secrets, however, nothing happens and the Scion has simply wasted his point of Legend. Deprogramming :Manipulation Knack (from S:C, changes by GBN) :Prerequisites: Takes One to Know One :Dice pool: Manipulation + Presence. Cost: 1L, plus the cost of the power being undone. Sometimes reversing a power is much more important than laying down the law with a new one, and the Scion with this Knack knows how to undo the most soundly entrenched of meddlings. If the Scion knows that a subject has been affected by some form of mind-altering or influencing Knack or Boon, she may reverse it, provided that she possesses the same power herself, spends the same number of additional Legend points as the being who originally laid it on her target, and overcomes their activation successes. A target thus relieved of an affliction is instantly restored to their normal frame of mind. Don't Play a Player :Manipulation Knack :Prerequisite: Takes One to Know One :Dice pool: None. Cost: None. The Scion knows every trick in the book, because she helped write the book. Upon taking this knack, she gains an additional . This Guile Resistance roll is the Scion's (Manipulation + Integrity), but she may apply it only against effects that would alter her behavior, emotions, or trust. Turn the Tables :Manipulation Knack :Prerequisite: Takes One to Know One, Don't Play a Player :Dice pool: Manipulation + Empathy. Cost: 1L. Woe betide the incautious tricksters who attempt to get one over on a Scion with this Knack. Whenever the Scion uses his Guile to defend against any power and his Guile Resistance result is at least double that power's activation roll, he may spend a point of Legend to turn the tables. The Scion's would-be manipulator automatically suffers the effect of whatever power he attempted to use on the Scion. (In certain cases, such as Blurt it Out or Overt Order, the Scion must guide the effect by asking a new question or issuing a new order.) Ultimate Manipulation :Dice pool: None. Cost: 30L + 1W. Once per scene, a Scion may activate Ultimate Manipulation to become the final word in guile, scheming trickery, and crafty plotting. By moving to the forefront of a crowd and activating Ultimate Manupulation, the Scion enslaves all demigods and comparable beings for the duration of the scene, and all mortals present permanently. While this power doesn't necessarily make them happy to serve, serve they must-- they carry out the spirit of the Scion's commands to the best of their ability. Alternately, the Scion may activate Ultimate Manipulation and describe an outcome, thereby ensuring that that outcome will come to pass. No matter how improbable (as long as it's not actually impossible), the Scion's desired goal becomes the culmination of a series of events set inexorably in motion by the hand of Fate itself. The only way to alter or stop this sequence once it is in motion is by another application of Ultimate Manipulation-- whether the Scion's plans are being tampered with by a rival, or whether the Scion himself decides to alter or abort the plans he has already set in motion. Catégorie:Tomorrow Belongs To Me Catégorie:Pouvoirs